We’re excited for the weekend. Cooler weather is on the way and we get more time to work on a few house projects. The Jillian Rene Decor pillow giveaway reminded me of pillow fight fun. My sisters and I had pillow fights and now V and E do.
Liz S, the winner of a $50 Jillian Rene Decor store credit, was involved in sock fights. Ha, never tried that!
On a more serious note, we’ve been busy buying things for the mountain house. 50 4 foot by 8 foot by 1 1/4 inch sheets of recycled (pulled off a remodeled building) polystyrene insulation thanks to Craigslist.
Similar products cost $18 per sheet at Home Depot. Ben will use this to insulate the back basement wall, which now has only framework and sheet rock. We’re hoping to score more through Craigslist and local recycle companies to wrap the house before we install new siding.
Another necessary addition is this Killer Whale by Pur Vac.
Sure, we have a central vacuüm already, but it is super lame. It sucks so little that it sucks so much. And only low voltage was run to the outlets, so it can’t support a rug attachment head. Oh, and it turns on as soon as the hose is plugged in, which has worn down the motor. Cleaning dog hair out of our rugs with the current vacuüm and hardwood floor head is not easy.
Ben has some wiring to run to get this behemoth hung in the garage. Actually, we don’t have enough room in the house electrical panel, so Ben is working on adding another to the garage. The previous owner ran wiring for a future shop/garage and we’re using that. As if we didn’t have enough irons in the fire, Ben tore down the wall separating the two storage rooms in the garage area. One month ago, after closing on the house, the storage room looked like this:
As of this morning, it looks like this:
Notice the square on the floor? That should help you get an idea of the wall placement. Soon, Ben wants to tear out the rest of the walls in this area to make room for his boat and give us room to park two cars in the garage.
Between knocking down walls and installing vacuums, he’ll have to add wire to each vacuüm port to power the new attachment kit we ordered.
That’s on our agenda this weekend. Maybe a little bathroom work for good measure.
What are you working on? Wall removal? Weekends just aren’t the same without demo work.
ourhumbleabodeblog.com 
Oh I want one of those van systems. Wonder how hard it is to install in an old house like ours…. hmmmm! you’ve got me thinking… projects that this house will keep us doing for the next 20 years I’m sure.
I’ve never had a central vac. Do you prefer it over an upright/canister vac?
Hi Teri, If you have access to your main level from your basement (our first basement was unfinished when we installed it) it’s pretty easy. Isn’t it crazy how many projects come up?!?
Hey Christinetalley! Oh yes, much more than an upright or canister vac. Seriously, the suction of out last one was amazingly strong. Pur Vac suggests using bags with our new vacuum, but they’re 9 gallons and most need to be emptied every 6 months. Love it. I’ll be sure to let you all know what we think of this new brand. 🙂
Thanks!
Amanda
Looking forward to your review of the PurVac. Yes we do have access since the basement isn’t finished. I think it would be an asset to the house and maybe more people would be interested in helping out around here if they didn’t have to lug a vacuum around. Of course, that is just my crazy theory. LOL Reality probably not! 😦
Hey Teri! Well, that would make it much easier. It’s basically like running plumbing, but for air and dust. Vincent and Everett like to ‘vacuum.’ Of course they just move the attachments around and don’t accomplish much, but it’s better than nothing.
Thanks!
Amanda
Is the garage separated from the rest of the house? I just saw a scary Holmes on Homes where the garage was open to the basement, and therefore the rest of the house with fumes and such. 😦 Is there a fire wall separating the two car area?
How awesome to have a central vac! I live in Texas and they don’t seem to be used much here that I’m aware of. Maybe because it’s necessary to have a basement for the installation? We don’t have many basements in our area. What a great feature to have!
I love your new profile picture! The other was distracting to the main page 🙂